Ground-auger



STATES NITE irrien.

Arent GROUND-AUSER.

Spccilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,172, dated April 4,1865; antcdated March 26, 1865.

lo @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID RING, of Damarscotta, in the county of Lincolnand State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Extension Post-HoleBorer; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description of the construction and operation of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of thisspecitication, in which'- Figure l is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a topview.

Like parts are indicated by the same letters in both drawings.

The nature of my invention consists, tirst, in constructing` the cuttingand lifting apparatus of a post-hole borer of two semicircular disks, DE, of sheet-iron or steel, one-half of the straight edge of each diskbeing provided with an inclined cutter, h., pointing upward, and theother half with a similar cutter, j, piinting downward, so that whilethe one cutter, j, is boring, the other, h, will be sharpened by theaction of the earth under which it revolves, and thus made ready to beturned top-side down and used whenever the under cutter becomes bluntedby boring; and, second, in rendering the borer expansible, so as to boreholes of different diameters by means of oblong slots fin the disks,through which the connin g screws g are passed into the cutter-head G atthe bottom of the shaft A.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willnow proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the shaft or shank of round iron, about four and a half feet longand iive-eighths of an inch in diameter, the upper end of which isprovided with a handle, B, as shown in the drawings.

C is a wrought or cast iron cutter-head, through the center of which isscrewed the lower end of the shaft A to a shoulder on the same.

D and E are the lifting-cutters, made of sheet iron or steel, eachcutter being, as represented in Fig. l, nearly a semi-circle, andprovided with oblong slots, f, through which are passed the screws ginto the cutter-head C, by means of which said cutters are readilyconiined, and in any desired position, according to the requireddiameter of the hole to be bored; i

h and j are the inclined cutting-edges of the disks, the edge h being onthe upper side of the disk on one side of the shaft A, and the edge jbeing on the under side of the disk, on the opposite side of the shaft,so that when the one edge is boring the other is being sharpened by theaction ot' the earth under which it revolves.

z' and It' are spurs or vertical cutters, which cut into the ground inadvance of the under cuttcrs,j, and form the periphery of the hole.

a. is a screw or spiral, formed on the lower extremity of the shaft, andserves as a guide to the cutters.

The machine is worked in the same manner as a common auger, the cuttersD E entering into the ground until the weight of the earth above them isas great as the operator cares to lift at once, and then withdrawn,raising the superincumbent earth upon them, which is cast aside, as froma hoe or shovel; and this operation is repeated until the post-hole isbored to the depth required. In soil that is free from stones a man withmy machine can bore out post-holes from three to iive times faster thanhe can dig them in the usual manner.

The machine is very simple, cheap, and sharpens itself by use. Byadjusting the disks D and E, it is also evident that holes of differentdiameters can be bored by the same machine.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. The disks D and E, provided With the top and bottom cutters, h and j,substantially as set forth, and for the purpose described.

2. Rendering the borer expansible by means of the oblong slots f,substantially as described.

DAVID RING.

Witnesses:

N AMES. GEO. lt. CLARKE.

